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Athenian citizens were not allowed to marry foreign women, even of reputation and virtue; this law was not strictly observed: the penalty for the violation of it was fixed at one thousand drachms. Simo mentions the epithet peregrina, as what Chremes said he had heard Glycera called; but does not himself drop the slightest hint against her, but, on the contrary, praises her modest demeanour; as he must have been well aware, that she did not deserve such an epithet, being her opposite neighbour, and having seen her abroad: ξέναι, or strange women, when they appeared in public, were obliged to wear striped dresses, to distinguish them from women of innocent conversation.
NOTE 83. Ofawickedmind,onecanexpectnothingbutwickedintentions.
In the Latin, mala mens, malus animus. It is not easy to discriminate with accuracy the different meanings the Romans attached to mens and animus. Some think that animus meant the heart, and mensthe faculty of thinking. Grotius has, in this passage, taken those words to signify conscienceand judgment: but, I think it probable, that the word animus was usually employed when they spoke of the soul, and that mens was intended to express what we understand by the word mind, when we speak of greatnessofmind, or littlenessofmind. Animuswas, perhaps, about equivalent to that elegant expression,—instinctusdivinitatis.
NOTE 84.
ExitSosia.
“Here we take our last leave of Sosia, who is, in the language of the commentators, a protatick personage, that is, as Donatus explains it, one who appears only once in the beginning (the protasis) of the piece, for the sake of unfolding the argument, and is
never seen again in any part of the play. The narration being ended, says Donatus, the character of Sosia is no longer necessary. He therefore departs, and leaves Simo alone to carry on the action. With all due deference to the ancients, I cannot help thinking this method, if too constantly practised, as I think it is in our author, rather inartificial. Narration, however beautiful, is certainly the deadest part of theatrical compositions: it is, indeed, strictly speaking, scarce dramatic, and strikes the least in the representation: and the too frequent introduction of a character, to whom a principal person in the fable is to relate in confidence the circumstances, previous to the opening of the play, is surely too direct a manner of conveying that information to the audience. Every thing of this nature should come obliquely, fall in a manner by accident, or be drawn as it were perforce, from the parties concerned, in the course of the action: a practice, which, if reckoned highly beautiful in epic, may be almost set down as absolutely necessary in dramatic poetry. It is, however, more adviseable, even to seem tedious, than to hazard being obscure. Terence certainly opens his plays with great address, and assigns a probable reason for one of the parties being so communicative to the other; and yet it is too plain that this narration is made merely for the sake of the audience, since there never was a duller hearer than Master Sosia, and it never appears, in the sequel of the play, that Simo’s instructions to him are of the least use to frighten Davus, or work upon Pamphilus. Yet even this protatick personage is one of the instances of Terence’s art, since it was often used in the Roman comedy, as may be seen even in Plautus, to make the relation of the argument the express office of the prologue.”—COLMAN.
Monsieur Baron does not dismiss Sosia here, but brings him on the stage again; once in the third act, and once in the fourth. Sir R. Steele introduces Humphrey again in the first act, and also in the fifth. We are told by Donatus, that in the Andrian and Perinthian of Menander, which are similar in the plot, the first scene is the same as in Terence, but that in the Perinthian, the old man consults with his wife instead of Sosia; and, in the Andrian he opens with a soliloquy.
NOTE 85.
But,herehecomes.
It has been objected against many dramatic writers, that they are guilty of great neglect in first bringing their characters on the stage, without preparing the audience for their appearance, and acquainting them with their names; and sometimes it happens that an actor has been on the stage a considerable time, before the audience know whom he is meant to personate. Terence’s art is admirably shown in this particular; a new character scarcely ever appears on the stage after the first scene, before his name, and character, and perhaps what he may be expected to say or do, is announced to the audience. For example, in the Andrian, Act I. Scene I., Simo describes the occupation and character of Davus before he appears; and names him to the audience as he comes on the stage. In Act I. Scene III., Davus introduces Mysis: in Act I. Scene IV., Mysis prepares the audience for the appearance of Pamphilus: in Act III. Scene IV., Simo announces Chremes, and Mysis is the nomenclator of Crito in the last scene of the fourth Act. This rule of preparation for the next scene was called, among the ancients, παρασκευὴ.
NOTE 86.
Howthisrascalprates!
Carnifex quæ loquitur. Carnifex, or carnufex, means literally an executioner: this was one of the most opprobrious epithets used by the Romans. Of all their public servants, the carnifex was the lowest in rank: his office extended only to crucifixion, which was never inflicted in Rome on any but those who were considered as the very worst of criminals. The person of the carnifex was held in such abhorrence, that he was never suffered to reside in Rome, and rarely (though sometimes) permitted to enter the city. VideCicero’sOration
for Rabirius. Carnifex means literally a butcher; and most of the writers of later ages have used it in that sense.
NOTE 87.
No:IamnotŒdipus,butDavus.
This is as much as to say, I am a plainman, I am no reader of riddles: because Œdipus, king of Thebes, was particularly celebrated for solving an enigma, which had long baffled the penetration of all the Thebans. Ancient writers relate the story thus: Europa, the sister of Cadmus, the first king of Thebes, having been carried off by Jupiter; Juno, in her jealousy, wreaked her vengeance on Europa’s family, and persecuted Cadmus and his descendants with the most inveterate hostility. During the reign of Creon, one of the successors of Cadmus, Juno sent to destroy Thebes, a dreadful monster, called Sphinx, which was described as having the face and voice of a woman, the wings of a dragon, the body of a dog, and the claws of a lion. This extraordinary monster dwelt in a cave, immediately in the neighbourhood of Thebes, and seizing every one that ventured to approach, proposed the following well-known riddle, “Whatwalksin the morning on four legs, at noon on two, and atnight on three?” Those who were unable to solve the enigma were instantly torn in pieces; and, as the Thebans were, in general, so remarkable for their slowness and sluggishness, that they were called “Thebanpigs” by the rest of Greece, it may be readily believed that the monster’s question long remained unanswered. When the city was in danger of total demolition, Creon the king offered his daughter Jocasta, and his crown, to him who should solve the riddle, as the oracle declared that to be the only means of deliverance. This was at last accomplished by Œdipus, who replied, that it was man: who crawls inhischildhood,walksuprightinthevigourofhisage,andwhouses acrutchwhenhegrowsold: on hearing this answer, the Sphinx slew herself.
Some commentator on Terence very ingeniously observes, that Davus, by saying that he is not Œdipus, and cannot understand his riddle, covertly insinuates that Simo is a second Sphinx.
NOTE 88.
Thegrinding-house.
Terence has rendered by the word pistrinum, the Greek σωφρονιστήριον, or house of correction, whither criminals were sent for the various terms of imprisonment proportioned to their offences. Slaves, while in this prison, were employed chiefly in grinding corn, which, from a deficiency of mechanical knowledge, was, in those times, a very laborious employment. The Athenians, who were universally celebrated for their kind and gentle treatment of slaves, were very reluctant to proceed to severer punishments than whipping or imprisonment: but when a flagrant delinquency rendered it necessary to make an example, they either burned the criminal with a hot iron, in the offending member, if possible; or put on his feet a torturing instrument, called χοῖνιξ. If the law required the criminal to suffer death, which happened in very few cases, he was either hung, beaten to death with clubs, or cast into a deep pit, called βάραθρον, filled at the bottom with sharp spikes. They sometimes had recourse to other extraordinary modes of punishment: but the before-mentioned were the most common.
NOTE 89.
Intruth,friendDavus,fromwhatIhavejustheard.
This scene contains the second part of the narration, which possesses all the requisites enumerated by Cicero, perspicuity, probability, brevity, and sweetness. It is introduced with Terence’s usual art, and enough is said respecting Glycera’s birth, to prepare the mind for the dénouement in the last act. This scene, and that
before it, are omitted in the Conscious Lovers; and a dialogue between Humphrey and Tom, and another between Tom and Phyllis, the English Davus and Mysis, are substituted instead of them: but Phyllis is the servant of Lucinda, the lady Sir J. Bevil wishes his son to marry: and not of Indiana, the modern Glycera. The two scenes above mentioned contain only one incident: the conveyance of a letter from young Bevil to Lucinda, apprizing her of his disinclination to the match.
NOTE 90.
Thisaffairmustbehandleddexterously,oreithermyyoungmaster orImustbequiteundone.
The original of this passage is as follows: Quæ si non astu providentur , me, aut herum pessundabunt. A deviation from the customary mode of expression sometimes occurs in our author’s writings. I shall set down the most remarkable words of this nature that are to be found in this play.
Abutor, with an accusative.
Alterco, for altercor.
Astu, for Astutia.
Complacitaest, for placuit.
Catus.
Claudier, for claudi.
Conflictatur, cum ingeniis ejusmodis.
Duint, for dent.
Diecula.
Emergerese, for emergere.
Face, for fac.
Introspicere.
Ipsus.
Immutarier, for immutari.
Morigera.
Maximumfacerehominem, for maximi.
Ornati, for ornatus.
Preci, for precibus.
Postillà, for posteà.
Symbola, for symbolum.
Spero, for timeo.
Subsarcinatam.
Tetulit.
Tumulti, for tumultus.
NOTE 91.
IfhefindsouttheleastthingIamundone.
Terence has the art of making us feel interested in the favour of almost all his characters: they insensibly gain ground in our good opinion: even this Davus, who certainly has a spice of the rogue about him, creates a warm interest in his favour by his fidelity to Pamphilus; and his generosity in risking his own safety to serve him: he braves the threats of Simo, when, by assisting him, and betraying Pamphilus, he must have secured the old man’s favour, and consequently great advantages to himself. But very few of the worst characters in Terence’s plays seem to us to be wholly unamiable.
NOTE 92.
Ithinktheirintentionssavourmoreofmadnessthanofanything else.
Terence plays upon the words in the original of this passage, which is as follows,
“Nam inceptio est amentium, haud amantium.”
Literally, For they act like mad people, not like lovers. This pun cannot be preserved in an English translation, till two words can be found alike in sound, one meaning “mad people,” and the other
“lovers.” The only attempt in English is the following: but the author has rather altered the sense.
“For they fare as they were lunaticke, and not lovesicke.”
BERNARD.
Terence plays upon words in this manner several times in this play,
Maledicere, malefactane noscant sua.
Solicitando, et pollicitandoeorum animos lactas.
Quia habet aliud magisex sese, et majus.
Quo jure, quaque injuria.
Ipsu’ sibi esse injuriusvideatur, neque id injuriâ.
P. Quid vis patiar? D. Paterest Pamphile.
The ancients manifested very great partiality for this species of wit, which the Greeks called παρανομασία and the Romans agnominatio. The writings of Plautus abound with puns above all others, and he is thought to have applied them with great ingenuity: the following may serve as a specimen.
Boiusest, Boiamterit.
Advenisse familiaresdicito.
Nescio quam tu familiarises: nisi actutum hinc abis, Familiaris, accipiere faxo haud familiariter Optumooptumèoptumamoperamdas.
Though the Greeks and Romans considered puns an ornament to writings and discourses of all kinds, modern critics have decided that they ought to be admitted only in writings of a light nature; and that they decrease the force and beauty of grave and serious
compositions, which ought to wear an air of dignified sublimity, unmixed with any thing of a trivial nature.
The lines immediately preceding the before-mentioned passages are thus altered by a French editor. VideNote 72.
Ad hæc mala hoc etiam mihi accedit; hæc Andria, QuamclampatreuxoremduxitPamphilus, gravida ab eo est.
The original lines are,
Ad hæc mala hoc etiam mihi accedit; hæc Andria, Sineistauxor,sineamicaestgravida a Pamphilo est.
NOTE 93.
Boyorgirl,saythey,thechildshallbebroughtup.
In the Latin,
Quidquid peperisset decreverunt tollere.
Boy or girl, they have resolved that it shall be taken up. The words taken up allude to the custom which prevailed in Greece, of destroying children. This barbarous cruelty was practised on various pretences; if an infant was, at its birth, deformed in any of its members, or if it appeared extremely feeble or sickly, the laws allowed, and even enjoined, that it should be exposed: sometimes illegitimacy was considered a sufficient cause for the exposure of a child. Though the parents were generally allowed to choose whether their offspring should be destroyed or preserved; in some parts of Greece all the inhabitants were compelled to send their new-born infants to officers appointed to examine them: who, if they found them not robust and healthy, cast them immediately into deep caverns, called ἀποθέται, which were dedicated to this purpose. It
was customary, in Athens, to place a new-born infant on the ground at the feet of its father, if he then took it up in his arms, it was considered that he bound himself to educate and provide for the child: hence, the expression tollere, to take up: but, if on the contrary, he refused to acknowledge it, a person appointed for that purpose conveyed it to some desert place at a distance from the city: and there left it to perish. The Thebans are said to have been the only people in Greece, among whom this barbarous custom did not prevail: but the story of Œdipus, a prince who was exposed, though afterwards preserved, is a proof that they did not altogether abstain from this practice.
NOTE 94.
ToprovethatsheisacitizenofAthens.
Women were allowed to enjoy the privileges of Athenian citizens, and, at the building of Athens, by Cecrops, they carried a point of no less importance than the choice of a name for the new city, in opposition to the votes of the men. Varro tells us that Neptune wished the new-built city to be called after his name, and that Athena, or Minerva, rivalled his pretensions. The question being put by Cecrops to his people, the men all voted for Neptune, but the women voted for Minerva, and gained, by one vote, the privilege of naming the city. The women were wholly excluded from any share in the government of Athens, in later ages; though they still retained various privileges as Athenian citizens.
For a further explanation of the rights of the Athenian citizens; and for some account of the city of Athens, vide Notes 150, 179, 180, 181, 193, 197.
NOTE 95.
Onceuponatime,acertainoldmerchant.
The title of merchantwe are to suppose to be added by Davus to embellish the tale. Neither Chremes nor Phania are described as merchants. This addition is well managed by the author, as Davus, who thought the whole a fabrication, imagined he was more likely to gain credit by telling the tale that way; as a considerable traffick was carried on between Athens and the island of Andros, which was a very fertile spot.
M. Baron has translated this scene with great fidelity and beauty. Davus developes in it a plan to break off the dreaded match with Philumena, by introducing Glycera to Chremes: which incident is substituted instead of the birth of the child. There is a break in the French lines which renders them inimitably beautiful.
“De
ce vieillard fougueux pour calmer la furie, Quoi! Ne pourrions nous pas résoudre Glycérie A venir à ses pieds lui demander——? Helas! Glycérie est malade, et je n’y songe pas.”
BARON
.
NOTE 96.
Well,I’llbetakemyselftotheForum.
A forum, both in Athens and Rome, was a large open space within the city, dedicated to various purposes. The forum was a place where the people met for public worship, for the administration of justice, and to debate on the publicaffairs. In the Forum, also, were the temples, hospitals, sanctuaries, and the markets of all kinds: in short, it was a place of general rendezvous for men of all ranks and professions, and was, in many respects, very similar to those places of meeting we call by the name Exchange.
In Rome there were six great forums, 1. the Roman, 2. the Julian, 3. the Augustan, 4. the Palladian, 5. the Trojan, 6. the Forum of Sallust. In Athens, the principal Forum was called ἀρχαία ἀγορὰ; it was extremely spacious, and decorated with some very fine buildings, and statues of eminent persons. There were also many others, but the most considerable was called the Forum, by way of distinction.
NOTE 97.
ActI. SceneIV.
Of all writers ancient or modern, except Seneca, Terence was the most indefatigable in endeavouring to embellish his writings with all the ornaments that alliteration could give them. It is not my
intention to enter in this place into a discussion of the advantages, or disadvantages that verses may derive from alliteration; a subject on which critics differ as widely as they can on any other point. The practice of many first-rate writers, however, both ancient and modern, who have thought that alliteration adorned their compositions, entitles it to attention. Although eminent critics have argued against this literary ornament, that its success is but a trivial excellence, I cannot but remark that it is allowed on all sides that great labour, care, and patience, are requisite, to succeed in alliteration; which must certainly contribute to render it of some value, and afford an absolute proof of the excessive labour and deliberation with which Terence wrote his plays, every line of which was, as I may say, weighed, before he wrote it down: for no author, ancient or modern, (with the before-mentioned exception,) ever employed alliteration so frequently, nor, in my opinion, with better effect than Terence.
The following lines will afford the reader a specimen of the almost astonishing extent to which alliteration was used by some of the ancient authors, Greek and Latin.
I. From Terence.
“Audivi, Archillis, jamdudum: Lesbiam adduci jubes
Sane pol illa temulenta est mulier, et temeraria
Nec sati digna cui committas primo partis mulierem. Tamen eam adducam. Importunitatem spectate aniculæ; Quia compotrix ejus est. Diana da facultatem, obsecro, Huic pariundi, atque illi in alius potius peccandi locum. Sed, quidnam Pamphilum exanimatum video? vereor quid siet. Opperiar, ut sciam, numquidnam hæc turba tristitiæ adferat. Ut animum ad aliquod stadium adjungant, aut equos— Alere, aut canes ad venandum, aut ad philosophos. In ignem imposita est. Fletur. Interea hæc soror. Mala mens, malus animus. Quem quidem ego si sensero.
Ipsum animum ægrotum ad deteriorem partem plerumque applicat, Nec, quid agam, cerium est; Pamphilumne adjutem, an auscultem seni.
Facite, fingite, invenite, efficite, qui detur tibi.
Aliquot me adiere, ex te auditum qui aiebant.
Quid isthuc? si ita isthuc animum induxti esse utile, Mala ingeram multa? Atque aliquis dicat, nihil promoveris.
Multum, Molestas certe ei fuero, atque animo morem gessero.
Quibu’ quidem quam facile poterat quiesci, si hic quiesset.
Age, si hic non insanit satis suà sponte, instiga.
Ausculta. Audivi jam omnia. Anne tu omnia?
Audivi inquam aprincipio. Audistin’?
————-optavit parare hic divitias,
Potius quam in patria honeste pauper vivere.
Sati’ jam sati’ Simo, spectata.
In alio occupato amore, abhorrenti ab re uxoriâ.
Pro peccato magno paulum supplicii satis est patri.
Nam hunc scio mea solide solum gavisurum gaudia.
Solus est quem diligunt Di. Salvus sum si hæc veca sunt.”
II. From Seneca.
“Meleagre, matris
Impius mactas; morerisque dextra
Matris iratae meruere cuncti
Morte quod.”
Accingere, anime; bella non levia apparas.
Servate sontem saxeo inclusum specu.
Pastor triformis littoris Tartessii.
Peremptus, acta est præda ab occasu ultimo
Notum Cythæron pavit Oceano pecus.
Penetrare jussus solis æstivi plagas.
Conquesta domum: licet ipse velit
Clarus niveos inter olores,
Istrum cygnus Tanaimque colens, Extrema loqui; licet Alcyones
Ceyca suum fluxu leviter.
Plangente sonent, cum tranquillo
Male confisae credunt interum.
Obliquatque; oculos, oraque.
Tandemque venias victor ad victam domum.
III. From Cicero.
De scripto dicta sententia est, quam Senatus frequens secutus est summo studio magnoque consensu.
IV. From Pliny.
Cum sciam, Domine, ad testimonium laudemque morum meorum, pertinere tam boni principis judicio exornari, rogo, dignitati, ad quam me provexit indulgentia tua, vel auguratum, vel septemviratum, quia vacant, adjicere digneris: ut jure sacerdotii precari deos pro te publicè possim, quos nunc precor pietate privatâ.
V. From Horace.
Acriter elatrem, pretium ætas alterasordet. Ambigitur.
VI. From Ovid.
Se cupit imprudens. Et qui probat ipse probatur. Dumque petit, petitur; pariterque.
VII. From Plutarch.
VIII. From Tyrtæus.
IX. From Æschines.
X. From Anacreon.
NOTE 98.
However,I’llbringher .
Mr. Cooke makes this speech come from Archillis, and writes it thus: Tamen eam adduce, I say, fetch her. This reading is taken
from Guyetus: but Dr. Bentley objects to Archillis within calling to Mysis without. But as Mysis uses the expression importunitatem SPECTATE aniculæ, see the old woman’s importunity, and not audite importunitatem, hear, &c.: we must suppose Archillis to show her impatience by gestures, as she stood at the door of Glycera’s house.
NOTE 99.
Mark,howimportunatethisoldbaggageis.
Importunitatem spectate aniculæ. Anicula is a word of singular derivation, and signifies literally a sorceress; being compounded of two Latin words, one signifying an old woman, and the other to howl: because sorceresses always howled when they made their incantations. We must not suppose that Mysis here meant to call Archillis a sorceress, but merely used the word above mentioned as a term of reproach. According to Antonius Magnus, the aniculæwere not a little mischievous, as he proposes to shew by the following quotation: “Retulit Leonardus Varius, lib. I. de Fascino, multas hac nostra tempestate existere aniculas, quarum impuritate non paucos effascinari pueros, illosque non modo in gravissimum incidere discrimen, verum atque acerbam sæpissime subire mortem. Pecudes insuper partu, et lacte privari, equos macrescere, et emori, segetes absque fructu colligi, arbores arescere, ac denique omnia pessum iri quandoque videri.”—ANTONIUS MAGNUS. Perscrutator rerum abditarum naturæ. Norimberga, 1681, p. 39.
NOTE 100.
Well,mayDianagrantmypoormistress, &c.
The common reading of this passage is, DI datefacultatem, May theGODS grant, &c., but I should rather imagine that Terence wrote, DIANA da facultatem, May DIANA grant, &c., because, on these occasions, the Greeks never invoked the assistance of all the gods,
but usually requested the help of Diana, as Glycera does afterwards, when she calls upon her by the name of Juno Lucina, (vide Note 143). Diana was supposed to preside over women in childbirth, and was called Εἰλείθυια.
NOTE 101.
A.I. S. V. Pamphilus,Mysis.
This scene contains the third and last part of the narration, which is entirely pathetic, and its length is very artificially and successfully relieved by the figure called by the Greeks προσωποποια, which is introduced with so many moving and pathetic graces, as afford ample proof that Terence was as great a master of the passions, as even Trabea, Attilius, and Cæcilius themselves, who were so highly extolled by the ancients for their excellence in compositions of that nature. Terence has admirably relieved the necessary length of his narration in this play, by his judicious method of dividing it: the first part is serious, (vide Note 65,) and raises our curiosity: the second part is comic, (videNote 89,) and excites our laughter; the third part is pathetic, and moves our pity. The lines in which Pamphilus describes the death of Chrysis are so extremely moving, that some of the most eminent critics have considered them at least equal, if not superior, to all attempts in the pathetic both ancient and modern. The finest passage in M. Baron’s Andrienne is, (in my opinion,) his imitation of the before-mentioned speech of Pamphilus: and the inimitable beauty which so much strikes us in the French copy ought to impress us with a just idea of the splendid merit of the Latinoriginal.
The whole speech is too long to be inserted here, the following are extracts:
“Si je m’en souviendrai! Qui? moi? Toute ma vie. Ce que me dit Chrysis parlant de Glicérie, Elle me dit, (Misis j’en verse encore des pleurs.)
Elle est jeune, elle est belle, elle est sage, et je meurs.
Je vous conjure donc par sa main que je tiens; Par la foi, par l’honneur, par mes pleurs, par les siens;
Par ce dernier moment qui va finir, ma vie,
De ne vous séparer jamais de Glicérie.
Elle prit nos deux mains, et les mit dans la sienne:
Que dans cette union l’amour vous entretienne;
C’est tout.—Elle expira dans le même moment.
Je l’ai promis, Misis, je tiendrai mon serment.”
Andrienne, A. I. S. VII.
NOTE 102.
AndwhyhasChremeschangedhismind.
“Id mutavit, quoniam me IMMUTATUM videt.”
The verb immutarein other Latin authors, and even in other parts of Terence himself, signifies to change; as in the Phormio, Antipho says, Non possum immutarier. I cannot be changed. But here, the sense absolutely requires that immutatum should be rendered not changed. Madame Dacier endeavours to reconcile this, according to a conjecture of her father’s, by shewing that immutatum stands for immutabilis, as immotus for immobilis, invictus for invincibilis, &c. But these examples do not remove the difficulty; since those participles always bear a negative sense, which immutatusdoes not: and thence arises all the difficulty. Terence certainly uses the verb immutare both negatively and positively, as is plain from this passage, and the above passage in the Phormio: and I dare say, with strict propriety. In our own language, we have instances of the same word bearing two senses, directly opposite to each other. The word let, for instance, is used in the contradictory meanings of permission and prohibition. The modern acceptation of the word is indeed almost entirely confined to the first sense; though we say,
even at this day, withoutletor molestation. Shakspeare, in Hamlet, says,
‘I’ll make a ghost of him that letsme;’
“That is, stops, prevents, hindersme, which is directly opposite to the modern use of the word.”—COLMAN.
“Immutare always signifies to change, immutatus therefore cannot mean unchanged: we see, moreover, that Pamphilus has been all along in love with Glycera, and that he never for a moment entertained the slightest idea of forsaking her. This passage was very difficult; but my father has made it easy, by shewing that immutatus is put for immutabilis, and that composed adjectives, which are derived from passive participles, do not always express what is done, but sometimes what may be done; that is to say, they become potentials. For example, immotus for immobilis, infectus for what cannot be done, invictus for invincibilis, invisus for invisibilis, indomitus for indomabilis, thus immutatus is for immutabilis.”—
MADAME DACIER.
The reader will judge whether the arguments used by these two learned and ingenious critics, will justify them in translating immutatus in a sense directly opposite to its usual meaning, in the writings of Cicero, and the most learned of the Roman authors. With all the respect which is unquestionably due to the pre-eminent talents of Madame Dacier and Mr. Colman, I am inclined to believe that the sense of this passage is made more clear by the reading I have adopted. If we allow their arguments to be of force, we must translate the sentence thus, is Chremes changed because he sees that I am unchanged. But if we allow immutatus to retain its usual signification, the sentence must be read thus, ishechangedbecause he sees that I am changed: i. e., because I, who had so high a character for prudence, am changed, and by my connexion with Glycera have proved that I am imprudent. It is, in short, as if he said, Chremes has changed his mind once on account of my connexion with Glycera, and now, I suppose, he changes it again for the same wise reason. This would not, (in my opinion,) be an
unnatural expression for an impatient man: and the sequel of the same speech seems to favour this interpretation.
NOTE 103.
I shrewdly suspect that this daughter of Chremes is either hideouslyugly,orthatsomethingisamissinher .
In the Latin aliquidmonstrialunt, theybreedupsomemonster.
This expression took its rise from the custom of exposing and destroying monstrous and deformed children, (see Note 93) which was required by law: therefore, those parents who resolved, notwithstanding, to educate a child of that kind, were compelled to do so with the utmost secrecy: hence, the phrase “aleremonstrum,” to breed up a monster, was used in Rome, to express any thing done in great secrecy. Terence has, by no means, violated probability, in representing Pamphilus as unacquainted with the person of Philumena: though she had been contracted to him; as Grecian women very seldom appeared abroad, and never, unveiled: and it not unfrequently occurred, that the bridegroom was introduced to the bride for the firsttimeon the day of marriage.
NOTE 104.
Sheisinlabour .
In the Latin, Laborat e dolore. Cooke thinks that these words mean merely she is weighed down by grief: and argues, that if Pamphilus had understood her words in any other sense, he would have urged her to more haste; as he does, when she tells him that she is going for a midwife. But laboro sometimes means to strive or struggle, as in Ovid,
“Et simul arma tuli, quæ nunc quoque ferre laboro.” Metam., B. XIII. L. 285.
’Twas then I bare Achilles’ arms, which now Istriveto wear.
Also, in Horace,
———————“laborat Lympha fugax trepidare.”
Od., B. II. O. 3. L. 11.
The rushing water strives To force a swifter passage.
And that, doubtless, is its meaning, when joined to dolore. What Mysis says, moreover, to Lesbia the midwife, in the first scene of the third act, is sufficient to justify this interpretation.
NOTE 105.
CanIsuffer, thatshe,whohas beenbroughtup inthepaths of modesty and virtue, should be exposed to want, and, perhaps,eventodishonour?
By the expression sinamcoactumegestateingeniumimmutarier? shallIsufferherinnocencetobeendangeredbywant?I am inclined to believe that Terence meant, the want of friends and protection, and not poverty, because we are told afterwards, (Act IV.) that Glycera was possessed of the property of Chrysis, which we are to imagine, from what Crito says concerning it, to have been something considerable. I believe egestateis often put for want of any kind. It may appear somewhat enigmatical, that Terence should speak of the liberal and virtuous education of Glycera, by such a person as Chrysis was said to have been; but it is a circumstance in no wise repugnant to the manners of the Greeks; as we see in the Eunuch in the instance of Thaisand Pamphila.
NOTE 106.
I call upon you, then, by the pledge of this hand you now extend to me, and by the natural goodness of your disposition.
Quod ego te per hanc dextram oro, et ingeniumtuum. Some read genium, by your genius, or by your good angel, and quote the following passage from Horace in support of this reading:
“Quod te per geniumdextramque, deosque penates Obsecro et obtestor.”
Epistles, B. I. E. 7. L. 94.
The difference, however, between the geniusand the ingenium, is not very material; as the ingenium or disposition, was supposed by the ancients to be prompted by the genius, or tutelar spirit, who presided over and directed all the actions of mankind. Each person was thought to have a good and also an evil spirit, who never quitted its charge till death: the spirits attendant on the men were called by the Romans genii, and those belonging to the women were named junones. The Greeks considered these aërial beings as of a nature between that of gods and men: and that they communicated to the latter the will of the former by oracles, dreams, &c. Apuleius takes the genius to be the same as the lar and larva: but it is most probable, that the larvæ, lemures, and dæmones, were all used as names for what were termed the evilgenii.
NOTE 107.
Betoherafriend,aguardian,aparent.
Amicum, tutorem patrem. The word tutorem in this line, alludes to the Roman custom of appointing guardians, which was usually performed with great ceremony: frequently on a dead-bed. The
person who intended to constitute a tutoror guardian, made use of a set form of words, which were spoken before witnesses, when the ward was delivered to the guardian, with these words, “Hunc (vel hanc) tibi commendo, Tutor esto.” I commend him(orher) toyour protection,betohimaguardian.Thus Ovid, “Hæc progeniesque mea est Hanctibicommendo.”
Trist., B. III. El. 14. L. 14.
To your protection I commit my offspring.
Some words were also addressed to the ward, as “Hunc tibi tutoremdo,” Iappointthispersonyourguardian.
Donatus observes, that the line ——“Te isti virum do, amicum, tutorem, patrem,” ought to be read with a long pause between each word, as Terence intended to describe the broken, interrupted voice of a person at the point of death.
NOTE 108.
Charinus,Byrrhia.
“These two characters were not in the works of Menander, but were added to the fable by Terence, lest Philumena’s being left without a husband, on the marriage of Pamphilus to Glycerium should appear too tragicala circumstance.—DONATUS.
Madame Dacier, after transcribing this remark adds, that it appears to her to be an observation of great importance to the theatre, and well worthy our attention.
Important as this dramatic arcanum may be, it were to be wished, that Terence had never found it out, or, at least, that he had
not availed himself of it in the construction of the Andrian. It is plain that the duplicity of the intrigue did not proceed from the imitation of Menander, since these characters, on which the double plot is founded, were not drawn from the Greek poet. Charinus and Byrrhia are indeed but poor counterparts, or faint shadows of Pamphilus and Davus; and, instead of adding life and vigour to the fable, rather damp its spirit, and stop the activity of its progress. As to the tragical circumstance of Philumena’s having no husband, it seems something like the distress of Prince Prettyman[A] , who thinks it a matter of indifference, whether he shall appear to be the son of a king or a fisherman, and is only uneasy lest he should be the son of nobody at all. I am much more inclined to the opinion of an ingenious French critic, whom I have already cited more than once, than to that of Donatus or Madame Dacier. His comment in this underplot is as follows:—
“Itisalmostimpossibletoconducttwointriguesata time without weakening the interest of both. With what address has Terence interwoven the amours of Pamphilus and Charinus in the Andrian! But has he done it without inconvenience?Atthebeginningofthesecondact,dowenot seem to be entering upon a new piece? and does the fifth concludeinaveryinterestingmanner?”—DIDEROT.
It is but justice to Sir Richard Steele to confess, that he has conducted the under-plot in the Conscious Lovers in a much more artful and interesting manner than Terence in the play before us. The part which Myrtle sustains (though not wholly unexceptionable, especially the last act,) is more essential to the fable than Charinus in the Andrian. His character also is more separated and distinguished from Bevil, than Charinus from Pamphilus, and serves to produce one of the best scenes[B] in the play.” COLMAN.
[A] The following extract will explain Mr. Colman’s allusion, Thimble. Brave Prettyman, it is at length revealed, That he is not thy Sire who thee conceal’d.
